Playing the long game with Autumn de Wilde

A ‘creative polymath’ is a compliment that’s strewn around the industry as liberally as sprinkles on a toddler’s birthday cake, but if anyone seems genuinely worthy of the label, it’s Anonymous Content director Autumn de Wilde, whose CV spans celebrity photographer, ad director, promo veteran, CD, feature filmmaker and, most recently, calligrapher. 

Not that de Wilde would ever describe herself that way. In fact, she says, growing up as a girl who was good at more than one thing “seemed to annoy people” - and pursuing a multifaceted approach probably made her less money in the early days of her career. 

I didn’t have money for – or even the trust of – a crew, so I was making backgrounds and inventing worlds out of one square block, turning it into five different locations.

“There is a certain way to approach advertising or filmmaking, or photography, which is: that’s your hat, and you put it on for everything. And that’s what [clients] go to you for. But my way of doing things has been more rewarding long term.” 

Above: The White Stripes, from the book, Under the Great Northern Lights, by Autumn de Wilde.

Doing things her way has taken de Wilde on a long and winding career path. She started out as a rock photographer, capturing the likes of The White Stripes, Beck and Deathcab for Cutie for album covers and editorial spreads. 

As a strapped-for-cash single mum, there was no financial cushion to plug the gaps in budgets – so she developed an inventive streak instead. “I didn’t have money for – or even the trust of – a crew, so I was making backgrounds and inventing worlds out of one square block, turning it into five different locations,” she remembers. That creative ingenuity propelled her into music videos, fashion films and commercials for brands as diverse as Prada, Uniqlo, British Airways and Diet Coke.

We start this abstract conversation back and forth, sharing photographs, movies, paintings, to build the world – and then one of us finds a pin that connects everything.

 At the age of 49, she got the chance to flex her directorial muscles with her debut film, Emma – a colourful, comedic and Insta-worthy take on Austen’s classic novel. 

Now in her mid-fifties, de Wilde is the celebrity’s photographer of choice, has a new (hush hush) feature in the pipeline and has just finished working on the ‘visual world’ for Everybody Scream, Florence + The Machine’s much-hyped sixth studio album. Whoever said creativity is a young person’s game?

Above: A still from de Wilde's 2020 feature, Emma, starring Anya Taylor Joy (right) and Mia Goth. 

Aptly released on Halloween, Everybody Scream summons a spellbinding vision of spiritual mysticism, witchcraft and womanhood from a bubbling cauldron of influences spanning Rosemary’s Baby, Possession and giallo horror classic Blood & Black Lace to the Old West of McCabe & Mrs Miller – and is a classic example of de Wilde’s ability to shape-shift into different creative specialisms within a single campaign. 

As co-creative director, director and photographer, she shot all the music videos (including for the titular single), the album cover and artwork, plus a slew of bonus content for social media that she refers to as “quali-teasers” – standalone mini-films in their own right.

It’s nice to work with someone who looks ‘between’ the ideas, like I do.

The scale and ambition of the project – de Wilde’s sixth collaboration with the band – is testament to her long-running relationship with lead singer Florence Welch. The two first began working together on the promo for Big God, which led to four more videos from the album Dance Fever (which de Wilde also co-creative directed). “Working with Florence is a really natural, organic process; she comes with such a clear vision,” says de Wilde. “We start this abstract conversation back and forth, sharing photographs, movies, paintings, to build the world – and then one of us finds a pin that connects everything.” 

Even the most abstract references - Welch’s look in Everybody Scream, for example, was a cross between a “1980s hot office witch” and a hooker from the Old West – can generate creative sparks: “It’s nice to work with someone who looks ‘between’ the ideas, like I do.” 

Although de Wilde “never expects people to come back to me – no one’s a prisoner as my muse”, Welch is one of a long line of faithful collaborators whose visual identity de Wilde has helped shape over the years. 

They include the musician Beck Hansen, who famously gave de Wilde her start as a rock photographer after saving her from heatstroke at Lollapalooza festival (he invited her onto his air-conditioned tour bus, she took a couple of snaps of him, and he said she should start doing it seriously). Their subsequent 16-year friendship is captured in de Wilde’s book, Beck. 

It’s very easy to make someone look sexy by humiliating them, and I’ve heard from many actors, musicians or models that feel like they’ve been compromised that way. That’s not talent.

 She’s also documented Kate and Lara Mulleavy, the sisters behind LA-based fashion label Rodarte, for more than a decade, acting as the brand’s unofficial photographer. “Once someone trusts me, it’s often [the basis for] a really long relationship and that’s the most valuable thing,” says de Wilde.

Trust has always been at the heart of de Wilde’s craft, be that celebrity portraits, adverts or music videos, and she’s developed a reputation for making her subjects feel ‘safe’ – perhaps the reason the likes of Childish Gambino, Elijah Wood, Jack White, Zooey Deschanel, and Robert Pattinson have all repeatedly passed in front of her lens.

Above: Portrait of the musician Beck Hansen, who gave de Wilde her start as a rock photographer after saving her from heatstroke at Lollapalooza festival.

Scrolling through de Wilde’s Instagram feed is like the ultimate celebrity bingo. But belying the star power of her subjects – and irrespective of whether they’re reportage-style or posed – all de Wilde’s portraits have an intimate feel, as though captured by a friend or even a lover. 

In one, Girls creator Lena Dunham is caught mid-makeup touch-up, smiling with uncharacteristic gentleness beneath a powder brush; in another, actress Kirsten Dunst tumbles seductively on a blanket in a meadow ablaze with wildflowers. For the album cover of Everybody Scream, de Wilde shot Welch through her trademark fish-eye lens – head thrown back, legs splayed and voluminous, lace-trimmed petticoats puddled around her. Although Welch is swathed in fabric, the image ripples with sensuality.  “You look at the photo and think: wow, it’s like she’s with her lover. But if there was a recording of what we were saying while shooting, you’d be laughing,” says de Wilde.

It’s easy to make someone look sexy by humiliating them, and I’ve heard from many actors, musicians or models that feel like they’ve been compromised that way. That’s not talent.

Her ability to put people at ease in front of the camera, whether they’re projecting power or sexuality or vulnerability, is, she says, deeply rooted in mutual trust - something she’s proud of taking the time to cultivate. Other photographers and filmmakers might take shortcuts to get the material they want out of their subjects, but not de Wilde. “It’s very easy to make someone look sexy by humiliating them, and I’ve heard from many actors, musicians or models that feel like they’ve been compromised that way. That’s not talent.”